Spain's People's Party Faces Court Complaint After Deepfake Ad Hits 2 Million Views

With general elections scheduled for November 29, Spain's conservative People's Party released a political advertisement this week that utilized deepfake technology to simulate confessions from figures linked to the governing Socialist party.

The video, which amassed nearly two million views by Friday, features AI-generated likenesses of several individuals. In one segment, Begoña Gómez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, appears to discuss obtaining a university position due to her husband's political role. Another segment shows former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero speaking about concealing jewelry in a safe. Both individuals have denied wrongdoing in the matters referenced by the clip.

Socialist Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López criticized the move in an interview with TVE, stating that the party was telling a colossal lie on its official accounts. He pointed out that the label identifying the content as AI-generated appeared in tiny, nearly transparent text at the bottom of the screen. López warned that viewers unfamiliar with artificial intelligence might mistake the footage for reality.

On the same day, Leire Díez, a former Socialist party member whose image was used in the ad, filed a court complaint against the People's Party. She requested the immediate removal of the video and alleged defamation and digital identity theft. The complaint notes that her likeness was used to suggest she worked to undermine the judiciary and law enforcement to benefit her former party.

Legal experts remain divided on the implications. Nine specialists consulted by El País largely agreed the video was not illegal because it was labeled as AI-generated and maintained a satirical tone. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, noted that the context makes it clear the individuals did not actually speak the words. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, distinguished between legality and ethical appropriateness.

José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education, described the use of deepfakes by a party claiming to revitalise democracy as regrettable. He argued that the video crossed a red line by putting words in others' mouths, a practice he classified as disinformation. Meanwhile, the People's Party dismissed the criticism. Party figure Borja Sémper stated that malicious intent was required to create a legal problem and that the video effectively exposed Socialist hypocrisy.

The controversy aligns with trends in other democracies. A Wesleyan University research group identified more than 200 AI-generated ads in the United States ahead of its midterm elections. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, noted that spending on such ads was less than $50,000 in the 2024 cycle, with many current examples lacking disclaimers. Polls currently suggest the People's Party will win the November 29 election but will require support from the far-right Vox party to form a government.